Hola, Gentle Readers,
I’m delighted to report that THE ETIQUETTE OF LOVE is finished and going through its editorial process.
Once I became reacquainted with Freddie and the Duke of Plimpton the story wrote itself . I had a couple 15k days, which felt lovely after struggling along through December and early January.
For the first time in almost 4 years I have been waking up before dawn and the words have been flowing. That was how I used to write before getting my first contract back in 2017. Back then I just wrote because I liked to. When I signed with a publisher, part of the agreement was starting social media accounts. Until that point I had never been on any platform. It was an entirely new, confusing, and time-consuming world. My productivity has diminished since then.
Of course not all of that has been because of the demands of social media. Indy publishing also has taken up huge amounts of time.
In any case, it feels good to revisit the early days of my writing career.
Here is a picture of a sunrise a few mornings ago:
Isn’t that inspiring?
And here is a picture of my dog Rover waiting patiently for a snack:
I have to share a funny story about Rover. Last week we had a day that was -12. I worried that he would be cold. He has been raised a flock dog and has never been inside a house before and refuses to change his mind on that. There is no getting a 170lb dog inside when he doesn’t want to be inside. His job is to guard my poultry and he loves them. I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s a chicken. He loves to sleep in the coop, but kinda drives the hens crazy by jumping up and down all night to bark at whatever needs barking at.
Anyhow, I thought he should sleep in the coop that night because it was so cold, so I left the door open for him and turned the wall heaters on full blast. Yes, there are heaters in the coop. I’ve had them up for 17 years and only need to use them once or twice a year.
Even with a heated coop I worried all night about him.
When I got up the next morning, I found him not in the coop. Not even on his heated dog blanket beside the door.
Instead, he was lying BELLY DOWN on a sheet of ice, tongue lolling, and tail wagging. In the -12 morning. The geese were frozen, the chickens refused to come out of the coop, but Rover was delighted.
So, Great Pyrenees evidently are good to at least -12.